Wendy Davis (born June 30, 1966) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Colonel Joan Burton in the Lifetime television drama series Army Wives (2007–2013), for which she received three NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series nominations.
Early life
Davis grew up in Joppatowne, Maryland.[1] She attended Joppatowne High School and graduated with a degree in Theater from Howard University.[2] Davis is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Career
Davis began her career appearing in television sitcoms. She was semi-regular on the 1991 sitcom The New WKRP in Cincinnati as receptionist Ronnie Lee, and guest starred on Martin, The Sinbad Show , and Coach. From 1996 to 1997, Davis starred as Lynette White in the ABC police drama High Incident created by Steven Spielberg.[1] The series ran two seasons. The following years, she spent appearing in the television and independent films, including Return to Two Moon Junction (1995), and well as guest starred on episodes of Any Day Now, Angel, Cold Case, and Grey's Anatomy.
In 2007, Davis was cast as Colonel Joan Burton in the Lifetime television drama series Army Wives opposite Kim Delaney, Catherine Bell, Sally Pressman and Brigid Brannagh. Davis has also received three NAACP Image Award nominations for her role under the category of "Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series" in 2008, 2009, and 2011.[3][4][5] She starred in show from 2007 to 2013, leaving after the season 7 finale.[6][7] Lifetime later canceled the series after seven seasons.
From 2012 to 2013, Davis had a recurring role as Kimberly Mitchell in the second season of ABC drama series Scandal created by Shonda Rhimes.[8] She later guest starred on Castle, Criminal Minds, NCIS, and Major Crimes. In 2018, she was cast in a series regular role in the Oprah Winfrey Network comedy-drama series Love Is created and produced by Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil.[9] The series was canceled after one season due to allegations of domestic violence and lifting the idea for the series from an ex-lover against Salim Akil.[10]
Personal life
Davis has a daughter with ex-husband Jacobi Wynne. She and her daughter live in Los Angeles CA. In a series of 9 short videos available through the "Understood" website and through YouTube, she discusses growing up with ADHD, how it helped her as an actress, and how she responded to her daughter getting the same diagnosis. The videos are to help parents of children with ADHD, adults with ADHD, and the rest of the population.[11]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Powder Heads | Reborn #1 | |
| 1989 | Running Out of Time | Tracy Michelle Gibson | TV movie |
| 1995 | Return to Two Moon Junction | Roni | |
| 1996 | Brittle Glory | Reporter | |
| 1999 | Rendezvous | Jade | TV movie |
| 2001 | Fight Girls | Sexy Red | |
| Taking Back Our Town | Janice Dickerson | TV movie | |
| 2002 | Trapped: Buried Alive | Monique | TV movie |
| Mother Ghost | Stacy | ||
| 2009 | Kid Edition | Cynthia | TV movie |
| 2014 | Just a Dream | Sherry | Short |
| 2016 | I Know Where Lizzie Is | Melissa Portman | TV movie |
| 2018 | Mr. Malevolent | Lucy | |
| Encounter | Agent Tevis |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | The New WKRP in Cincinnati | Ronnie Lee | Recurring cast: season 1 |
| 1993 | Martin | Bobbi | Episode: "Baby, It's You" |
| The Sinbad Show | Sandy | Episode: "Petty Larceny" | |
| South of Sunset | - | Episode: "Newspaper Boy" | |
| 1994 | Coach | Julie | Episode: "Like Father, Like Daughter" |
| 1996 | EZ Streets | Joan Priestly | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1996–97 | High Incident | Lynette White | Main cast |
| 1997 | Between Brothers | Cynthia | Episode: "Family Affair" |
| 1998 | Profiler | Mrs. Driscoll | Episode: "Dying to Live" |
| Smart Guy | Hillary Jordan | Episode: "Beating Is Fundamental" | |
| 2000 | Any Day Now | Cheryl | Episode: "Lighten Up, Rene" |
| 2001 | Cursed | Alice Fullmer | Episode: "...And Then He Got a Rash" |
| The District | Saundra Dayton | Episode: "The Project" | |
| 2002 | Angel | Aubrey Jenkins | Episode: "Loyalty" |
| 2005 | Cold Case | Julia Owens | Episode: "Ravaged" |
| Grey's Anatomy | Holly Adams | Episode: "Who's Zoomin' Who?" | |
| 2006 | Commander in Chief | Karen Patton | Episode: "Unfinished Business" |
| 2007–13 | Army Wives | Joan Burton | Main cast |
| 2012–13 | Scandal | Kimberly Mitchell | Recurring cast: season 2 |
| 2014 | Castle | Lt. Delia Burton | Episode: "Under Fire" |
| Criminal Minds | Dr. Kathleen Benedict | Episode: "Mr. & Mrs. Anderson" | |
| 2016 | NCIS | Kensington Bloom | Episode: "Sister City: Part 1" |
| Major Crimes | Sharon's Doctor | Episode: "Off the Wagon" | |
| 2017 | Sweet/Vicious | - | Episode: "Pure Heroine" & "An Innocent Man" |
| 2018 | Designated Survivor | Commander Watkins | Episode: "The Final Frontier" |
| Love Is | Nuri (2017) | Main cast | |
| 2020 | Star Trek: Picard | Dr. Kabath | Episode: "Maps and Legends" |
| Bull | Samara Walton | Episode: "Child of Mine" | |
| 2022-23 | Bel Air | Joan | 3 episodes |
Awards and nominations
- Drama-Logue Award – Talking With
- 2008, Image Awards – Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Army Wives (Nominated)
- 2009, Image Awards – Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Army Wives (Nominated)
- 2011, Image Awards – Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Army Wives (Nominated)
- 2008, Prism Awards – Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline Army Wives (Nominated)
References
- ^ a b "Wendy Davis biography". Buddytv.com. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
- ^ "Wendy Davis profile". Tvguide.com. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
- ^ "Winners of the 39th NAACP Image Awards" (PDF). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ "The 40th NAACP Image Awards - Winners". naacpimageawards.net. February 12, 2009. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ "The 42nd NAACP Image Awards - Television". naacpimageawards.net. March 4, 2011. Archived from the original on June 25, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ "'Army Wives' Finale: Joan Retires From The Army To Move To Baltimore (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ^ "'Army Wives' finale: season 8 uncertain – Should Lifetime renew or cancel?". Blog.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-16. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ^ "Wendy Davis credits". Tvguide.com. 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
- ^ Petski, Denise (13 April 2018). "'Love Is ___': Wendy Davis Joins OWN Relationship Dramedy In Recasting". Retrieved 8 May 2018.
- ^ Patten, Dominic (December 19, 2018). "OWN Breaks Up With 'Love Is _' Amidst EP Salim Akil Domestic Violence Claims".
- ^ "Wendy Davis on having ADHD". Understood.org. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
External links
- Wendy Davis at IMDb
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